The Rook Barkwater Saga is a trilogy within the children's

Children's literature

Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...

 fantasy

Fantasy literature

Fantasy literature is fantasy in written form. Historically speaking, literature has composed the majority of fantasy works. Since the 1950s however, a growing segment of the fantasy genre has taken the form of films, television programs, graphic novels, video games, music, painting, and other...

 novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

 series The Edge Chronicles

The Edge Chronicles

The Edge Chronicles is a young-adult fantasy novel series by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell. It consists of three trilogies, plus three additional books, and others . Originally published in the United Kingdom, this series has since been published in the United States, Canada and Australia. To...

by Paul Stewart

Paul Stewart (writer)

Paul Stewart is a writer of children's books, best known for the bestselling The Edge Chronicles, the Free Lance novels and the Far Flung Adventures series which are written in collaboration with the illustrator Chris Riddell...

 and Chris Riddell

Chris Riddell

Chris Riddell is a British illustrator and occasional writer of children's literature, and a political cartoonist for The Observer. He has won the Kate Greenaway Medal twice and the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize seven times....

. The three books were released between 2002 and 2004.

Rook Barkwater Saga Books

There are three books that make up the Rook Barkwater Saga are:

• The Last of the Sky Pirates
  The Last of the Sky Pirates
  The Last of the Sky Pirates is a children's fantasy novel by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell, first published in 2002. It is the fifth volume of The Edge Chronicles and the first of the Rook Saga trilogy; within the stories' own chronology it is the seventh novel, following the Quint Saga and Twig...
  
  
• Vox
  Vox (The Edge Chronicles)
  Vox is a children's fantasy novel by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell, first published in 2003. It is the sixth volume of The Edge Chronicles and the second of the Rook Saga trilogy; within the stories' own chronology it is the eighth novel, following the Quint Saga and Twig Saga trilogies.-Plot...
  
  
• Freeglader
  Freeglader
  Freeglader is a children's fantasy novel by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell, first published in 2004. It is the seventh volume of The Edge Chronicles and the third of the Rook Saga trilogy; within the stories' own chronology it is the ninth novel, following the Quint Saga and Twig Saga...
  
  

The Rook Barkwater Saga's Main Characters

• Rook Barkwater
  Rook Barkwater
  Rook Barkwater is a fictional character in the children's book series The Edge Chronicles.-History:Rook is the great-grandson of Cloud Wolf, grandson of Twig Verginix and the great nephew of Tem Barkwater...
  
   - fourthling*
• Felix Lodd - fourthling
• Fenbrus Lodd - fourthling
• Varis Lodd - fourthling
• Magda Burlix - fourthling
• Stob Lummus - fourthling
• Cowlquape - fourthling
• Twig- fourthling
• Alquix Venvax - fourthling
• Vox Verlix - fourthling
• Xanth Filatine - fourthling
• Orbix Xaxis - fourthling
• Wumeru - Banderbear
• Wuralo - Banderbear
• Molleen - Banderbear
• Weeg - Banderbear

• Fourthlings are the human equivalent on the Edge - they are descended from every kind of creature, and often have more forthright characteristics of one race than another (e.g. Rook's grandmother was a slaughterer, so Keris (Twig's daughter) looks a lot more like a slaughterer than the other races). They are looked down on in the Deepwoods, and are better suited to life in Sanctaphrax or Undertown.

The Last of the Sky Pirates

The first of Rook's adventures, we are introduced to a strange new Edge. Fifty years have passed since the Twig Saga, and the Edge is being plagued by stone sickness, a disease that caused buoyant rocks to crumble away to nothing. Sanctaphrax has also been affected by the sickness, and is beginning to crumble away. It is now controlled by the evil Guardians of Night, who have driven the valiant Librarians and Librarian Knights into hiding in the Undertown sewers. Rook is one of the Librarians. Surprisingly, he is selected as one of three young Librarian Knights to travel to the Free Glades and write a treatise about the Deepwoods. While completing his treatise, Rook encounters Twig, an old sky pirate who, along with Rook and a handful of Banderbears, attempts to free his old friend Cowlquape from the clutches of the Guardians of Night with the last Sky Ship in all the Edge.

Vox

In Rook's second adventure, Rook is caught by slavers. He is sent to work in the palace of Vox Verlix, where he uncovers Vox's plan to trigger a Great Storm. The Guardians of Night claim that if a Great Storm occurs, they will be able to harness its power and use it to heal Sanctaphrax Rock, which has come down with stone sickness. Rook, however, as a Librarian Knight, knows that instead of healing the rock, the Guardians of Night will only make things worse. Meanwhile, the Shrykes, the goblins and the Guardians of Night have located the Librarian Knights' hiding place and all separately plan to attack them. Rook and Cowlquape manage to lead a mass exodus from the sewers, saving the Librarian Knights. The shrykes and goblins meet up in the sewers and, being mortal enemies, begin to attack each other. This is when the Guardians of Night release the monsters of Screetown into the sewers, which devour both the goblins and Shrykes. The storm hits the rock killing many of the Guardians and destroying the tower,along with the rest of Undertown. The Librarian Knights, having fled the sewers, begin to make their way to the Free Glades.

Freeglader

Rook, his friends and the Librarian Knights, the Ghost of Screetown and the sky pirates of the Mire leave Undertown and the mire behind to start a new life in the Freeglades. Before they are able to get too far into their journey the Shrykes attack them. They survive only to have the Goblin Nations and the Foundry Glade plan to launch an attack on the Free Glades. Rook joins the Freeglade Lancers due to his need to act as well as his inability to carve a new skycraft. The story comes to a head when the Lancers, Ghosts of Screetown and Librarian Knights new and old must fight to protect the Free Glades.

External links

• Official Random House site
• Official UK Edge Chronicles site
• Unofficial Edge Chronicles Forum